Engineers Drop to 14th in Danmark Trophy

Oct 03, 2005

Oct. 2, 2005

ByMike Stoller

New London, Conn. - After two outstanding weeks in which the MIT sailing team finished in the elite top five, the Tech sailors took a dip in the rankings, placing 14th out of 18 entries, this past weekend, in the Danmark Trophy.

Finishing in the top five in only three of 18 rounds in A-Division, Tech's usually reliable tandem of skipper Jack Field and crew Wyman Li never got on track during the two-day event hosted by the U.S. Coast Guard Academy. Just two weeks ago, the duo rallied MIT to an overall pulsating fifth-place slot in Hatch Brown Trophy. Field then skippered all 14 races last weekend in the Hood Trophy, as the Engineers again finished fifth overall.

Sailing with winds at 5-8 knots, Saturday, Field and Li did muster a first-place slot in the 11th race, beating out Brown University, the event's overall fourth-place finisher. Then, in Sunday's pleasant southerly breeze, the twosome battled to a third-place mark in the last round, besting University of Rhode Island by a notch.

In B-Division, MIT cracked the top 10 in only 5 of 18 races. Skippers Jake Muhleman and Brooks Reed, the heroes in the Hood Trophy, found it more difficult using this weekend's trapezoid course and modified triangle course with separate start and finish lines. With Julie Arsenault in tow, the Engineers sparkled in the final race, finishing atop the board above Yale University.